Through the Darkness
by AngelRikku1010
Summary: Caraway...After he gets to Rinoa,who will keep her pieces,that he constantly tries to break,together?This is a sweet fic about a girl who's lost light and finds it in an unexpected place.Pre game.Rinoa/Rikku.Yuri,language,and for themes.Crossover
1. Lost

Authors note: Yo! This is just a sweet story… I don't own any of the characters or any thing. Final Fantasy and all that goes with it are all Square's. So please read and tell me what you think. The rating is for profanity and maybe a lemon in the future. Maybe a little Yuri content. Okay maybe a lot… Like I said, it's a sweet story centering on Rinoa. Well… here we go!

Rinoa, eleven years old and crying her eyes out.

"Dad why! W-why did this happen?! What-!?" Her voice was cracking, breaking under the confusion of it all.

She wasn't asking "why" to try to understand what had happened, because she already knew. She wanted an answer other than the truth. She wanted things to change from an answer given by her father and only him.

The people around her chanting "its okay, its okay" meant nothing to her. Just constant buzzing around her frazzled head.

She clung to his business suit for dear life. Feeling as if she were to let go reality would completely consume her in its darkness. Suffocating. Choking.

At this moment, she held on to the only person that gave her light. Her only glimmer of light telling her that there was more than just the darkness. There was a way out.

"Dad! Why?! What's happening?" Rinoa said as she struggled to catch his eyes.

He stared straight ahead at the burning vehicle. People flocked to try to help the situation but there was no longer anyone there to help.

Fury Caraway's expression suddenly changed to an angry agitation. He shrugged off his child and spat his words with a cold biting edge.

"She's dead! My Julia's dead! What do you think?! Why don't you understand?!"

She understood. She just didn't want to.

He trudged through the countless EMT's to a group of Business men, similarly dressed.

They seemed to comfort him as Rinoa patiently stood, waiting for him to return for her. Only for him to come back and say "it's okay now."

He never did. There she stood tears still streaming, light now gone.

Rinoa, two years later, two whole years of dealing with that man.

After Julia's death Caraway found comfort with his colleagues, and all of them found comfort in drinking. Rinoa found no surprise in him coming home drunk and yelling.

Because he had a temper, she did all she could to keep it from rising and boiling over. All the things that might tick him off, everything a child, a wife, and a maid would do.

She kept the mansion spotless up until he comes home like this. Creating a whirlwind in his wake. Destroying anything and everything in his path, including her.

She was in her room on the second floor when he burst in. Being in his line of view when he's drunk would be a bad idea.

"Rin-!...oa!! Rinoa!!" Caraway boomed, tipping something over as usual.

Not coming when he asked would lead to more than just yelling… but she was used to that.

She scurried down stairs, practically flying down the stairs. This happened so often that she knew better than to start the fight by saying anything.

"Why the hell didn't you turn the porch light on? I couldn't find the fucking door!"

Rinoa looked away and thought of the least offensive thing to say. "sorry" was all she could manage to squeak out of her. Yet he seemed to find that offensive.

He stumbled toward the thirteen year old girl.

That familiar feeling over came her. It felt like there was a lump in her throat that would last for hours. The racing thoughts came as the adrenaline did with the slight feeling of helplessness. And a dash of tarragon.

He drunkenly shoved her. The impact wasn't much at all, but the feeling of it coming from a father has a greater impact. Her throat was completely cut off from the words she wanted to say to her voice. Her chest stiffened.

As he pushed she staggered back a bit. He was unsatisfied with that. He wanted her on the ground.

He pushed much harder causing her to fall back on to the stairs. She felt the familiar bruises returning on her back.

Caraway took a step closer.

Rinoa knew that if she didn't say anything now she wouldn't be able to until it was all over.

"Your dinner is on the table!" She said trying to sound normal despite her racing pulse.

He froze. He adjusted his eyes to really look at her this time as Rinoa, not as a target. The drunken haze started to clear up.

He reached for her hands and said, "You…look just like-!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her not to her feet, but up and out the door. "G-go away! Don't come back! Don't come back to me!" He said staggering back and forth.

Shoving her to the ground once more.

She couldn't hold the emotion back any more. The tears flew freely, like they were preparing to fall the whole time. Her eyes were burning.

"Get the hell out of here! I don't want your dinner!" It almost felt as if he were talking to someone else.

Rinoa rose to her feet. She mustered up all the courage she could find.

"But I-!"

"You're no Julia! Not mine! Not her!" He rushed to her, the same violent glint in his eye. Spitting incoherent profanities.

She had to decide fast. It was either the street for a couple of hours until her sobered up, or get beaten up for about an hour.

She turned and ran.

He stopped at the door frame, catching it to keep his balance. "Get the fuck out! Out! I-I don't want to see…" He continued to utter a constant stream of curses and threats.

She ran down the pathway down her big lawn. She whipped away each tear before they would fall in a futile effort to stop crying. Each tear quickly replaced itself the second she swiped it away.

Rinoa stopped at the edge of the lawn, her breath uneven on the verge of hyperventilation. It came out in gasps as she tried to get a hold of herself. She was used to this feeling. No matter how familiar it was, no matter how many times it happened, it never hurt any less.

The street she lived on was crowded with mansions. The houses had about three feet separating them and a fence in between those three feet. It was Delling City after all.

She stood there in the middle of the night, in Delling City, crying. The pressure in her chest was still there and as stiff as ever. Apparent with each breath. She concentrated on her breathing.

_In…and out…_

She put her face in her hands to focus…

Shuffling next to her broke her concentration. A hand on her shoulder averted her attention to the left.

"It's okay…It's gonna be alright." Spoke a petite girl on the other side of the fence, reaching for her.

The tears halted immediately. Rinoa couldn't speak. Not because of the fear that Caraway had installed in her, but because the gaze of the girl clutched Rinoa's vocal chords.

Rinoa's deep brown eyes locked with the girl's swirly green eyes through her tears. She blinked them out of the way to get a better look.

The girl had brilliant blonde hair that looked golden in the orange street lamps. She had long bangs on both sides of her face. Her hair was tied up and fell like an explosion at all sides. She had two braids at the nape of her neck.

She was wearing an understanding expression. "It's going to be ok." She said with confidence. "It's going to get better."

"How…How do you know?" Rinoa said wiping the remains of her tears away.

The blonde teen took a step closer to the fence separating them. Removing her hand from Rinoa's shoulder and placed them on the fence.

"Well…you stopped crying, right? Your dad stopped yelling…It's already better than it was two minutes ago." She said smiling genuinely.

The pressure in Rinoa's chest had been removed. Her tears had, in fact ,come to a halt.

Rinoa was unable to resist the girls smile and a little one curled on Rinoa's lips. "Y-your right."

"See? It's okay now." The blonde girl placed a hand on Rinoa's shoulder again and smiled. Revealing cute dimples on the sides of her face.

Rinoa smiled back. The hesitancy gone. The smile came back from a place long forgotten.

"Yeah, it's…Okay now."

Authors note…Again: Thanks for reading!! So, what did you think? Please review. Oh-! Can anyone guess who the blonde girl is?? Hmm?? Time to work on the second chapter.Phew… That was fun!


	2. Princess

Author's babble: Well, if you read a couple lines down you might be surprised to see who the pairing is… It's just a totally made up story about my two favorite characters. I really wanted to make my first Yuri special. I might have to raise the rating if I finally decide to include a lemon in the future. So…read.

"I'm Rikku," said the blonde girl as she leaned against the fence.

Rinoa cleared her throat. "I'm Rinoa." Rikku was leaning so closely that Rinoa could feel her breath blow around her.

Rikku leaned in closer. "Really? Rikku and Rinoa?" She giggled, liking the way it sounded. "So Rinoa… What are you gonna do now?" her face eased back into that same tender smile.

"Oh…Ah…What?" said Rinoa, genuinely confused by her question. Also stuttering from being so close to someone so beautiful.

"Your pop kicked you out, right?" she said tilting her head to the left. "I was sitting on the porch and I sort of overheard. "

"He'll probably let me back in in a few hours." Rinoa looked around uncomfortably. Checking to see if there was any sign of that man. "Sorry you had to see that."

"_You're_ sorry? You're not the one who should be apologizing. You didn't do any thing wrong." Rikku straightened up. Rikku sounded serious.

"How would you know?" said Rinoa with humor in her voice.

"I don't. So, what was he yelling about?" said Rikku with her voice still serious.

"I umm…forgot to turn the porch light on…" Rikku looked up at Rinoa through her eyelashes. Rikku stared at her with a blank expression for a good ten seconds. With her mouth slightly open. She had figured that Rinoa was joking at first but her serious voice said that it was true.

"…Seriously?!" Rikku said leaning over the fence again. "All that was for-!" She caught herself. She backed off the fence and stared off into the city's blinding lights. Finally understanding what kind of relationship Rinoa had with her father.

Though she wanted to, Rinoa couldn't find it in her to try to figure out what Rikku was looking at. She was too busy looking at her, as if her eyes were locked in place.

The way that the city lights shown on her skin was…breathtaking. Rinoa had the feeling that she was in a trance, unable to break it by herself. Her eyes were practically afraid to blink.

Rikku turned back to her. "So what are you gonna do now?" her words bunching together.

The sound of her voice smacked her back into reality

"Umm… Probably just wait outside for three or four hours." Rinoa said looking in the direction of the city.

"In the middle of the night, a little girl is going to wander through the city?" Rikku said smiling widely with a slight sadness. Thinking through the concept of being abandoned and then having to live with the abandoner…repeatedly .

"I'm thirteen" Rinoa retorted.

"Me too" Rikku said back "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to wander through the cold city alone, does it?"

Rinoa's eyes narrowed, lifting an eyebrow. "You're coming with me?"

"No…" said Rikku as she walked around the fence to Rinoa's side, holding out her hand. "You're coming with me."

Rinoa almost instinctively took her hand without another thought. Their eyes locking, both smiling slightly shy smiles. Rikku abruptly turned and pulled Rinoa along with her.

"Where are we going?" asked Rinoa. She was partially focused on what she was saying. The other part was staring down where their hands were locked together.

"To my house." Said Rikku. Rinoa noticed that they were in the lawn that Rikku had been in a few minutes ago.

"You live here? Why haven't I seen you before?" _I most definitely would've remembered…_Rinoa thought to herself.

"I just moved in today. I'm your new neighbor!" exclaimed Rikku. She turned her head to the side toward Rinoa and grinned.

When they reached her house Rinoa noticed something different about the atmosphere. It had the same overall layout of Rinoa's mansion. Stairs in front of the door, living room here, hallway there… But there was a completely different feeling.

It wasn't as perfectly put together as Rinoa's house. It was always big and empty, but it was clean. No one but Caraway and Rinoa really ever came inside. It had no…life.

Rikku's house was messy. Lots of unopened boxes were strewn throughout Rinoa's view. The things that have already been put into place were placed as if they would be used. Not just for show like in Rinoa's house.

There was still life in this house even though it was large, dimly lit, and empty.

"Where are your parents?" asked Rinoa as she scanned the area.

Rikku, still holding Rinoa's hand in hers, pulled her to the living room and flipped on another dim light. There was a couch and a large window in front of it. The window was emitting a faint orange glow over the room.

She led Rinoa to the couch and plopped down. "Well… I never knew my mom. My dad left on his air ship earlier today with my brother."

Rinoa sat on the cushion next to her. "When's he coming back? It's already so late…" Rinoa looked curiously at her, possibly too comically. The expression caused Rikku to smile.

"He's not coming back. He sort of left me here." Rinoa felt a strange vibe. That showed on her face. "Let me explain…" said Rikku walking to the window, pulling the curtain out of the way.

"You see, he's this big-shot army general… or something like that." Rikku said uninterested.

"No kidding! Mine too!" said Rinoa hopping to her feet.

Rikku looked at her for a second, nodded and turned back to the window to hide the smile that was creeping across her face. Shaking her head, she continued.

"He has to travel all over the world. My brother wanted to go with him but that's not exactly…" She searched for the right word. "…That's not what I want." Rikku said as she turned to Rinoa.

Rinoa found her voice caught in her throat again. Finding herself unable to speak or simply forgetting how.

"Since he didn't want to feel guilty for leaving me, he bought me this whole mansion! This way he won't have to worry about me." She smiled sweetly.

"But then that means…" Rinoa paused. "All by yourself…" said Rinoa stifling a yawn.

"By the looks of it, I might have it better than you do…" Rikku took a quick peek out the window.

"Boy, that's a long story. Where should I start?" said Rinoa rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Maybe you should go to sleep before you pass out." Rikku was completely unaffected by the hour.

"I don't think my dad's going to let me in yet." Rinoa said sitting back down.

"Just leave it to me." said Rikku confidently. She took Rinoa's hand again and pulled her to her feet. The drowsyness was catching up with Rinoa. Once Rinoa's balance returned to her they started out the door.

"What are you gonna…" Rinoa trailed off too low for Rikku to hear. She blindly followed where Rikku's hand took her. She was too sleepy to see where.

Rikku knocked on the doo to Rinoa's mansion. Caraway's silhouette appeared before the two girls.

"Who are y…" Rinoa heard no more. She had lost consciousness. Consumed by sleep, she collapsed.

~*~*~*~

_Rinoa's POV_

I woke up groggy ad moody. Unaware of where and when I was. Sitting up and stretching, I tried to recall how I ended up here. Instantly remembering my beautiful new neighbor, Rikku. What happened…to her?

I remembered walking with her to my house. She pulled me by the hand. I remember seeing that man when the door opened… I gasped. Realizing that whatever I missed couldn't have been good for Rikku.

Calm down, I told myself, maybe I imagined her. Good, that way she wouldn't have gotten hurt.

I was faintly aware that my last thought almost made me sound crazy. I was just too annoyed from waking up to care. Besides, I had bigger problems than my questionable sanity.

I looked around seeing that my window was open with the curtains pushed out of the way. This window was huge, the window sill was about a foot off the floor and the length of the window reached the ceiling. It was about four feet wide, it opened like large double doors.

Weird, it was seldom ever opened. Caraway maybe?

I walked over to it, still unchanged out of my clothes from yesterday. I was shocked to see Rikku in the same exact window across from mine. She sat in front of it with her chin on the sill. She was staring intently at the doo that lead in and out of my room.

"Ah-Rikku!" I said, I had almost forgotten how close the mansions were spaced together. I was happy that I hadn't imagined her.

Her reaction was delayed for at least two seconds. She snapped out of it and her eyes moved steadily to mine.

"What-what are you doing?" I said, still surprised to see her there.

She didn't take her chin off the sill as she looked up at me. "Keeping watch" her eyes returning to my door.

"For what?" I knew the answer as soon as I asked.

"Your dad. He's a scary guy when he's drunk. I can't imagine what the hangover's like." She said as she got up slowly.

"Better than when he's sober. He's quiet…Rikku!" I locked my eyes on the huge, fist-sized bruise on her left cheek. I reached over to her before realizing that we were on separate second floors.

She caught me before I fell face first to my death. She grabbed my shoulders as I crashed into her.

"Woah-woah, don't kill yourself after I spent so long trying to protect you." I felt Rikku's breath brush over my hair and down the back of my neck.

My face went hot. I caught my balance and safely came back into my room. Not before noticing how good she smelled.

"Were you…" I was unable to sort out all my questions at that moment. "What happened lat night?"

"Well…" Rikku sat back down in front of the window, resting her chin on the sill again. I did the same only propping my face in my hands. I looked at her carefully, expecting a long story.

"Nothing really." Rikku's eyes darted behind me to my door again. "After you fell asleep, I carried you upstairs and…then…" She didn't continue. She looked down with a hint of a frown on her face.

"And then?" I urged her. Then she seemed to be determined say whatever she was thinking. She quickly raised her head off the window sill.

"When I was leaving he was saying that you were irresponsible and selfish and…I...didn't think that was true so I said that he was too hard on you and that he shouldn't let the small stuff get so big like that. He didn't let me finish though."

The way she looked at me made me feel like I was missing something. I didn't get it.

"That's when he socked me." She made a punching motion to her left cheek.

I suddenly got it all at once. I leaned forward to touch her cheek. This time I reached her safely while still sitting on the ground. I just barely touched her skin, careful not to hurt her.

"It's my fault" I said, feeling the bump. "Does it hurt?" I frowned.

She laughed, she sounded relived. "Not anymore." She smiled.

"I just didn't want to get you involved. And now…"

"Hey! I'm A-okay! Promise! It's not your fault. I sort of involved myself, right?" She said as she continued to smile.

I realized my hand was still on her face. I pulled it back slowly. Our eye contact never breaking.

"So what are you going to do now?" she asked.

I got up and stretched, not because I was tired of sitting on the floor, but because I was just tired.

"I felt bad for leaving you there, so I decided to keep watch. Just incase he was still angry." I was stunned. She would do that for me? We just met yesterday and yet she would go to such lengths.

"You stayed up all night?!" I tried to keep my voice level and failed. She rose.

"I'll admit, I might have dozed off. But I tried… Gosh! I haven't even known you for a whole day and yet…" Rikku said my thoughts out loud.

"And yet?" I asked fishing for more even though I knew that I'd end up empty handed.

"Lets go out." She said changing the subject swiftly. "Show me around this town."

"Yeah, sure….just let me go to the bathroom first." I had completely forgotten that I just woke up. I probably had a bad case of bed head. Suddenly self conscious, I combed through my hair with my fingers.

She just giggled "I'll wait"

I scurried and did all the typical things that teenage girls do in the morning. For some reason I felt uneasy. The adrenaline was pumping for no reason at all. I was a little anxious to know that she was there, waiting on me.

I made myself pretty as fast as I could. And I was right about the bed head. Maybe I could replace that image in her head if I wowed her now but…why would that matter to me? It shouldn't.

I checked in the mirror quickly before appearing before her. My effort to make myself extra cute worked. Satisfied, I went to the window. To my surprise she had changed clothes too. Probably doing the same things I did.

"Hi" I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Try not to wake him." She put a finger to her lips.

"Right." I went to the door and tugged. Now I looked pathetically weak. I felt the color come to my face when it didn't open. I tugged it was hard as I could before realizing what had happened. I turned to her. "He locked me in" I said with a grim look.

"He _locked _you in?" Rikku's eyes widened.

"Yeah…he does that to either punish me or to keep him from having to see me." I walked over to her.

"Rinoa…" She looked down for a long moment then quickly raised her head up again. "_He_ locked you _in_? Shouldn't you want to lock _him out_?"

"It doesn't work that way." I said shaking my head.

"It's supposed to." We both chuckled.

Rikku recovered before me. "So he locks you in your room in this big mansion?"

"Yeah. Pretty crazy, huh?" I leaned on one side of the window.

"More crazy than you know…Princess." She leaned in the same fashion.

"Wha-what?" I stood straight up taking a defensive stance.

"Oh come on. It's like you're the princess that the dragon keeps locked up in the tower. The only way to save the princess is to defeat the mean old dragon." She smiled widely.

"That's-!" I couldn't deny it. It did sound familiar. So I decided to change the subject. "So, I guess I'll have to stay here until he wakes up."

"I could come get you, Princess." She looked smug.

I was trying to ignore the "Princess" part so she would just drop it. "He'd just hurt you again."

"Who said that he'd find out? Why would he? I'm pretty sneaky."

"Because the controls to the locks are in his room." I said with no hope in my mind.

"Crap…you know I'm pretty handy with mechanics."

"Really?" I was doubtful and I'm sure it showed.

"Yup. Maybe I'll show you some time, but today I'll take the easy way out." She paused, scanning the area around me and outside our windows. "Hey, you don't mind _how_ I save you as long as I save you, right?"

I looked in disbelief. "Save?" I had hoped that she had forgotten.

"From the dragon." She said like I didn't know the direction she was heading.

"Rikku..." I started to protest but gave in. "What do you mean? How?"

"Easy." She held out both her hands. "Come here."

I looked at her for one second. "No way." No way I could possible walk three feet with out stumbling. One misstep in this three feet meant death.

She shook her head and raised her hands in immediate defeat. "Fine, than move out of the way."

"No way." I repeated. Sure, it wasn't more than one long stride but still…

"I thought you'd say that." She got up on the window sill. "Move or get run over." She smiled. I got the feeling that she wasn't serious. I was wrong.

"No wait!" She gracefully hopped onto my window sill. Neither of us knew the momentum would cause her to lose balance…on me.

She fell forward on top of me. I got run over but for some reason it didn't hurt. Or at least I couldn't feel it.

"Ouch, sorry." She murmured but didn't make much effort to get off. I could feel her body heat almost immediately engulfing me. I found myself speechless again. This never happens!

I could smell that delicious sent of her again, only stronger this time. I could tell my face was as red as it could possibly get. I tried to regain a normal heat rate but made no progress. I realized that I couldn't as long as she was…so close.

"Rikku…" Somehow she interoperated my tone for what I meant. It sounded like… But I meant to snap her out of the same trance I was currently in.

She pulled herself to her feet. Apologizing again. She held out a hand and I accepted. Pulling me noticeably too close.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. You couldn't wait a few hours till my dad wakes up?" I took a step back, looking away. I hid my way too red face away from her.

"Dad? You still call him that? Well anyway, why don't I wait here?" I stood still, eying the window behind her. I thought hard very quickly making up my mind. Some fresh air would clear these…weird feelings. My head felt so clouded.

I'd risk falling to my death just to get out of the house at the moment. Seeing her hop across so easily gave me inspiration. "You go across first." I gave her a tiny smile.

"Hey, now you're talking!" She hoped across seamlessly, this time without me in the way.

She held her hands out again. She looked completely sure. There was a hint of a smile and a slight glint in her eyes.

I took both of her hands and tried to focus on what I was about to do and not her face. I clumsily stumbled into her room. It was greed and yellow. The same as my house, save for my overwhelmingly pink room.

I crashed into her for a second then regained my composure.

"Consider yourself saved, Princess." I frowned at her in response to the "Princess" part. Maybe a little too comically because when she saw my face her smile widened.

Her smile was really charming. From the glint in her green eyes to the dimples on her cheeks. It made me dizzy, no, more light headed. I turned to the door quickly, almost losing my balance.

"Well…let's go. I need some fresh air." _Maybe a therapist, some self help books, and a big needle._ I thought to myself.

I dragged down to the front door with Rikku skipping lightly at my side. We were outside before I realized what time it was.

"The sun is…setting?!" I yelped.

"Yep. It's been a long day" she yawned.

"But we didn't do anything!"

"Exactly." She stretched out like a cat. "My butt still hurts."

Here I thought we had the whole day ahead of us. "We gotta do something, now!" I grabbed her hand and set off toward the heart of the city.

Every time I get kicked out I usually call some friends form school and hangout around the city. Rikku and I did just that. We went to the mall. I got the feeling that I was the only one looking for clothes, but she looked like she was having fun.

I tried something on and she commented. I paid attention to her initial reactions because they were all I needed to know what she thought. By the end of the day I had them all memorized.

We goofed around the mall for what felt like only an hour. It went by so quickly. I hadn't even asked her what she wanted to do. I was having so much fun. It was so natural to talk and laugh with her about anything. I got the impression that we would be good friends. Then again, maybe it was the constant dizziness she gave me that was deluding me a little.

We started heading back. It would be pitch black if it wasn't for the bright city lights. We took the long way back, a path that was well hidden from the neon city lights, traffic jams, and countless people.

We walked casually side by side in the chill of the night in fall. "Oops, I never even asked you what you wanted to do."

"I already told you." She kicked a rock way too far for someone who wasn't a boy. "I wanted you to show me around the city." She checked behind us quickly. "And I wanted to get you away from that guy, too. Just for a little while…" She stared at her feet.

"Rikku…he's my dad." I wrapped my arms around myself, hoping to get some heat back on my arms. Today was not a good day for short sleeves.

"I know that!" she said kicking a rock but clipping the edge. It tumbled on to my side. I wound my leg back for a big kick. It ended up about two feet from me.

Rikku burst out in laughter. I figured my face was half the reason she was laughing. I chuckled slightly in response, more embarrassed than humored.

She recovered quickly. "It's just that… He's way too hard on you. He beats you up for no reason."

Shock ran through my body. "He…he doesn't beat me." I nervously glanced at her. I didn't want her to worry. She might die of sleep deprivation if she pulls another all nighter like yesterday. Or die of something worse. I banished those thoughts from my head as soon as they came.

"Rinoa." She stopped walking and waited for me to look at her. She's normally so cheerful, it's weird to see her so serious. "You changed in enough different clothes for me to see all of those bruises."

Oops again…I guess that I was having so much fun that I forgot about all that. I partially blame her for putting me in that hazy state. I blamed myself for letting her.

Rikku wasn't going to let this go. She stood her ground and looked straight through me. I couldn't attempt to lie. Not with that face and those eyes on me.

The silence dragged on.

"I…I don't know what to say to you." I turned around. "Let's go."

"Rinoa." She walked up and grabbed my hand.

I didn't turn. "What is it?"

"That's not alright with me. You have to tell someone."

"No." I said thinking of my father again.

"Why not?"

"It's none of your business anyway." I said, my words cracked like a whip.

"It is now. Why won't you tell anyone?"

"He…can't help it…He doesn't mean to." I still couldn't turn around to face her.

"What?! Rin, you can't do all this by accident…" She used her other hand to trace lines on my back with her finger tips. I shivered from her slight touch.

I yanked my hand free and stepped away from her. Turning to her I said, "I can't. He'd be locked up" I could feel the emotion welling up in my eyes.

"Yup. It's a crime for him to even lay a finger on you. Even if you let him, I won't."

"What are you going to do?" I stood defensively.

"Report him to the police. What else?" she said matter-of-factly.

"I'll deny it."

"Why?!" Her voice cracked, feeling defeat.

"Just…leave it alone." I turned to walk again.

"Fine. I won't report it. But I'm still going to save you. Whatever it takes." She walked casually by my side.

"Rikku?" I tried to read her face to figure out what she meant.

She sensed the question in my face. "I'll protect you. Protect you from him, from the dragon." She looked thoughtful. "Leave it to me."

"Please, don't get involved. I don't want you to…"

"To?" she pressed.

"I don't want you to get involved."

"It's too late. Besides, it's just what I want to do. No need to thank me, I'm just being selfish." She grinned.

"Rikku…" I started to walk closer to her. "You don't need to care so much. We just met after all."

"I thought we met last night." She smiled again. "I can't help it. Don't ask why, because I don't know."

Our houses came into view. Our day was ending even though I didn't want it to.

"You know Rinoa…" She slowed down a bit. "You can talk to me about it. If you ever need to. If you need advice or just someone to listen to you."

I eyed her suspiciously. "How do I know you won't hide a tape recorder or video tape me or something?"

"Because you can trust me." She came to stop a few feet from the gate of my house. "I guess I won't report him if you don't want me to. But it'd be nice if I knew why I should send his ass to jail."

"Rikku!"

"Relax." She took a step toward me, putting both hands on my shoulders. "I'm not gonna let him hurt you again. I'll come to the rescue when you're in trouble."

I chuckled "Like the princesses prince?"

"Exactly."

I turned my head only to find that Caraway's car was gone. "Where'd he go?" I pondered out loud. "Crap, I forgot my house keys."

She lowered her hands. "That's fine. You can just go in the same way you got out."

We walked slowly to her room and again to the window.

"Be careful." She called after me.

I got across safely without loosing my balance.

"Rinoa." I turned from hearing her voice. She was wearing her melt your heart smile.

Rikku held out one hand out her window toward me. I instinctively reached out my hand and laced our fingers together. Our eyes locked for what felt like a whole minute. I was completely content for that minute.

I studied her features. The way the city lights complemented her blonde hair. The swirls in her green eyes, and the way her hair blew when every chilling breeze flew between us.

She finally spoke after a long moment. "You know, we're not finished talking about you-know-what."

"I didn't think you were." I gave her a weak smile.

"Well…" She squeezed my hand a little tighter. "Good night, Princess."

Authors dribble: GOSH! My brain is moving faster than my fingers! I decided to drop the lemon. This is purely sweet!!....Kind of. Phew… Hope you liked it. Please review it and tell me what you think. See ya next time!


	3. Expected and Not

Authors note: Hi! Thanks for tuning in to the third chapter. This story is going to show the growth of a relationship over the course of five years. This chapter makes big strides to the goal. What's the goal? Read to find out…heh, heh, heh…

Despite the fact that I slept through almost the whole day yesterday, I still found it in me to be completely overcome by sleep the second I hit the pillow. Before I passed out I was thinking nonstop about Rikku. The things she said, the things we did, the things we laughed about.

And somehow my mind made it to Caraway. When I returned to my room it was still locked. For the first time I wasn't scared of how long he would keep me in here.

This time when I woke up I wasn't going to get caught with a bed head again. I actually got on the floor and slid under the window sill, just in case she was awake.

I went to the bathroom in the same fashion as I did yesterday, making myself extra pretty again.

I rushed to the window to find no one there. _She must be tired from yesterday._ I thought to myself, a little disappointed. It's actually rare for me to wake up before someone, even Caraway.

I turned to my bed to find a blonde girl lounging on it, leaning on the wall with her arms folded behind her head.

Before I could say anything she smirked. "Better get used to it." She said smiling

I sighed and sat next to her. I was actually relived to see her. "Morning." I said smiling back.

"Morning" she fixed her eyes on the door. "I couldn't help but notice that he still hasn't unlocked the door."

"Oh yeah?" I wasn't surprised. "He does that sometimes…"

Her eyes widened, probably about to start talking about him. So I changed the subject. I don't like the face she makes whenever she talks about him. It's way too sad to be on Rikku's face.

"So, you're going to the same school as me tomorrow, right?"

"Yup. I bet it's really big and full of rich people."

I rose and eyebrow. "You do realize that we're part of those 'rich people'."

"Correction, our fathers are rich. I'm flat broke. And by the looks of yesterday, when we went shopping, you're not doing so well yourself." She sat up next to me.

"That's too true!" I can't remember the last time I opened my wallet and found money in there. "Umm…Rikku?"

"Hm?" her arms still folded behind her head.

"What are _those_ for?" I looked at the array of wrenches, screwdrivers, and wire cutters on the floor next to my door.

"Oh, I fixed your door. It's open now."

I looked in awe. I went up and turned the handle. It was, in fact, open.

"Told you I was good with this kinda stuff."

I sat next to her again "Where did you say you were from?" What kind of upbringing has you master infiltration?

"I didn't say, but I'm from Bikanel Desert."

"Whoa no way! From the desert?!" I've never met anyone but a Galbadian. Not many people move into Deling.

"Well yeah, obviously!" she held her arm straight against mine. "You Galbadians don't get much sunlight, do you?"

I was a little embarrassed. Her skin was tanned where my skin was ghostly pale.

"You…" I didn't know what to call people from Bikanel. "Bikanelians don't get much cloud, huh?"

She chuckled, I was obviously wrong in my guess.

"You mean Al Bhed. Anyway, it's a good thing that there aren't many clouds there."

"Why is that? Ah---! Wait a minute. You're Al Bhed?!" I thought back to a party Caraway had dragged me to. A lot of people were talking about the Al Bhed…they weren't exactly the biggest fans of the Al Bhed.

"Uhh…yeah." She looked worried. She pulled her eyebrows together and leaned away to get a good read on my face. "You're…you're not an Al Bhed hater, are you?"

"No, no, no of course not." I spoke quickly. I leaned in to close the gap she had created. "You know about the whole 'Al Bhed attack on Galbadia'?"

A flash of anger ran across her face. "That was-!"

I held my hand up to stop her. "The Galbadians released that to the public. Being the general's daughter, I know better." I smiled and she seemed to lose some of her tenseness. "They told those lies to the public and basically put targets on all of the Al Bhed's backs."

She looked relieved. What happened wasn't an attack, it was retaliation. The Al Bhed didn't provoke Galbadia; it was the other way around.

It took me awhile to realize it, but I was literally leaning over her. I blushed, straightened up, and continued. My own resentment towards Galbadia came out.

"Damned politicians. All they did was cover their own asses by blaming a whole group of people. They weren't to blame…"

"Rinoa!" She was surprised to see me so angry. I was too.

"Sorry!"I said quickly. "I always get touchy about those Galbadian politicians. Let me tell you, everything in those anarchy magazines are true!" I stood up; all that rebellion was too much for just sitting. I held up my fists in triumph.

I stood there in silence as she looked up at me for at least a whole minute. The sound of the ticking clocks in the hallway was the only making things worse. I felt embarrassed again.

She started chuckling to herself. "You're cute." Her laughter grew. My face flushed. I don't think I was blushing out of embarrassment this time.

A voice came from downstairs that stopped Rikku's laughter and my blushing.

"Rinoa, can you come downstairs? It's about your report card…" It was Caraway.

I turned toward the door and started to walk to it when Rikku grabbed my wrist. She gave me this look, as if to say "Need me to take care of him?"

I gave her a weak smile. "Don't worry. I get good grades."

She nodded but sat stiff and prepared, ready for anything.

I walked downstairs hoping that he was fully sober today. He smiled. "Hey Rin."

I was used to this. This was probably the worst part of living with him. Not that he beat me up when he was mad, or that he completely forgets about me _until_ he gets mad. The worst part is seeing him try to make everything instantly better by pretending that nothing happed.

I hate how every time he gets like this, I start to think that it could stay like this. More like two people rather than a boxer and a punching bag, or a maid and her master.

After a while, I started to realize that this was all fake. Purely fake. The false concern and kindness of a stereotypical father. The false happiness that I gave back to him.

I've given up on him. I'm not trying to fix him. It's more like I'm trying to contain him, like a bottle of soda that I'm trying not to shake. I'm trying to keep it still but it just keeps rolling on it's own. It's of my hands. It fizzles and fizzles until the cap is burst off. Unfortunately, I'm the one it spills on.

"Hey dad." My plan was just to answer his questions and hopefully keep his veneer of cheer up.

"Now, I was looking through the mail…and your report card came in."

I remained silent.

"I looked through it…were you aware of this?" He pointed to something. I walked next to him to see. In bold print it said: Parent/guardian teacher phone conference required concerning situation at home.

I stared at the words for a second. I actually didn't know what it meant but I knew what it sounded like to him. I had to think of an excuse quickly.

"O-oh! That must be about…that book that I left at home." I was a bad liar. It showed in everyway possible, in my voice, words, body language, and on my face. Still, I was hoping he would overlook all of that and still believe me.

"What did you tell them?" He looked straight at me. I was positive that he was sober today. His voice was totally normal.

"I…said that I left it at home." He started walking closer to me. The way he was walking made me instinctively back up. He backed me into a corner.

He grabbed both of my wrists.

"Why do you do this to me?" That familiar fear swept through my entire being again. What did I do?

I gave in then. My last thought was, _it'll be over soon._

He grabbed the top of my head and tangled his fingers in my hair. He slammed my head into the wall that I was backed up against.

"I haven't done anything wrong but you still do this to me. Like I'm the bad guy." He kept his voice conversational. That made it all the more terrifying when he grabbed my neck with one hand and wound his other fist back.

He crashed his fist against my cheek. The force was so great that my head, for the second time, hit the wall. He dragged me to my feet. I staggered a little.

Thinking it was over, I stood straight up. I was much too scared to check what the damage was.

He wasn't finished. "Don't mention this to anyone! Where would you go if I wasn't here? You'd be useless! You _are_ useless!" Each word hit me harder than anything I'd ever felt. Partially because he punched me in a different place every time he finished a sentence. He started to shout now.

"Where would you go?! What would you do?! How would you survive?!"

The voice of an angry angel came form the top of the stairs.

"Stop it!" Rikku ran with all her might and pushed Caraway a good distance away from us. She turned to me, her eyes wide. "Rinoa…I…" She didn't know where to start.

"Who the hell?" Caraway recovered. He started toward the two of us.

She stood defensively between Caraway and I with her arms out stretched, protecting me.

"Rikku! Don't!" The last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt. She was unfazed by my pleas.

"Don't you dare take one more step! What exactly do you think you're doing?! Take it from me, if your angry take it out on a therapist. They need some exciting creep like you to be their next project! Hitting a thirteen year girl! What kind of a man are you?! If you're a man at all, you'd fucking pick on someone your own damned species!!"

She screamed all of it. He looked angry, red faced and steaming. He turned, grabbed his car keys, and drove off.

I sank to my knees, trying to breathe regularly.

Rikku came down to my level. "Rinoa…are you hurt?" She lightly touched her finger tips on my cheeks. She whipped away my tears. I was unaware that they were falling in the first place.

I tried to say something but no words would come. She could see that I needed to calm down. Maybe she needed to calm down too.

She wrapped her arms around my head and pulled me into her upper chest. I laid my head there.

"It's over now…you can cry, you know. Let it out."

I circled my arms around her waist and let my tears fall. I felt her breath go down the back of my neck. I couldn't think of anything else. All my thoughts revolved around Rikku.

The feeling of being so content in her arms. She smelled so good. I took long deep breaths and took control of my breathing. She was so warm and soft. She ran her hand through my hair lightly. She was careful that she didn't hit an unknown bruise.

Her hands went to my back and slowly trailed up and down. I'll admit, I was being a little selfish. I couldn't think of any of the bad things that were usually on my mind in her arms.

I knew that all the smacks Caraway gave probably hurt pressed up against her. I was way too numb at the moment to be anything but happy.

She held me tight and firm, where my limp grasp could barely hold on.

She started when she felt that I had calmed down. "Sorry Rinoa. I-I was so close to it and still I… I'm sorry." She squeezed me tighter. "This time I'll be listening. I'll be there."

I found my words form her hurt voice. "But you were! You stopped him, didn't you?"

"A little late, huh?" She pulled away and put her hand on my cheek.

I didn't like seeing her so sad. She was only like this when we talked about Caraway. _Damn him._ I pushed her away a bit so I could look at her.

"Rikku, forget about that. Just…smile a little, will you?!" I almost screamed the last part.

I was so angry at Caraway. Rikku looked like someone had took her heart, stretched it out, and then snapped it in half. I wanted to snap her out of that.

In response to my outburst, she gave a weak smile. It slowly made itself into a chuckle. I said something stupid again.

She continued to laugh. "Heh, you're so cute." She repeated. I blushed the same way I did before.

I got up quickly. She was still laughing at me! "Are you finished yet?!" I said, still blushing.

"Sorry, sorry!" She said, still laughing.

I started to walk to the door, pretending to be mad.

"Hey, come on! I'm sorry!"She said hopping up and chasing after me. She turned me around and to her surprise, I wasn't mad.

"It's fine." I opened the door. "Let's get out of here."

"Where to?-Wait a minute! Are you alright?!"She said, eyeing me suspiciously up and down.

I fixed my cloths and hair to make sure that whatever she was eyeing wasn't embarrassing.

"I'm better than ever. Let's go." I turned out the door and she followed.

"Where?"Said Rikku. I honestly didn't care.

"Umm…I dunno. We can go to a movie. Then…maybe grab something to eat?"

She topped. When I sensed that she stopped following, I turned to her.

"Like…a date?" She emphasized the "date" part.

"Ah! No-I just…" I fumbled over my words one after another. I doubt that she was listening to any of them because she smile got wider and wider as I spoke.

"Right-o!" She said as she walked up and locked her arm around mine. "Let's go! So, who's treating who?"

As we walked I could tell that she would go on with this for awhile. I decided to go with it. After all, she had, I'll admit it, saved me from a much harder beating. I had to tell her before she got too carried away with this date thing.

"Rikku…Thanks for today. You were…You were so brave" I squeezed her arm.

She looked at me with awe. "You really think so?" She said casually, stifling a grin.

"Yeah! I mean… It's just that I can barely speak when he gets like that. But you, you just went off on him! Weren't you scared?"

"Nope." She smirked "Easy as pie."

"Wow Rikku. I'm really impressed." And I meant it. Whenever Caraway goes on a rampage I can never speak. So many words I want to say… I don't think I'll ever be as brave as Rikku to say them.

"You gotta stand up for yourself."

"I'd love to." I said, rolling my eyes.

She snapped right back into her happy mode. "Hey! We're leaving to have a good time! Forget about all that. You have to, for this date to work!"

"Oops. Sorry. How could I forget."

So we went to the movies. We saw any random movie that she said looked good. I let myself get lost in the story line. To no surprise, Rikku didn't let the "Date" thing go. She even did that cliché arm around my shoulders during the movie. Oddly enough, I went along with it. I did owe her for this morning…

After the movie, we went to get something to eat at a cheap fast food place. She insisted on fully paying for the movie so she ended up having no money for food and I paid for her.

She said that she wanted to be the guy on the date and paying for everything usually comes with it. I had to explain and remind her that she was, in fact, a girl. I know the whole "Date" this is just a joke, but at times I wondered if she was really joking the whole time. At times, it really did feel like a date.

We walked back home as usual. Rikku insisted on holding my hand, saying that the date wasn't finished yet.

"Then when is it over?" I said surrendering my hand to her.

"When I say it is. And right now, it's not." She said as she took my hand in both of hers.

"I think you might be taking this a bit too far…" Our houses came into view, both houses were completely dark.

"What too far?" She said, trying to look innocent.

We stopped right before the gate to my house. "Well, I have my keys today." I said smiling at her, hinting that she should let go of my hand soon.

"Wasn't today fun!?" Rikku said with way too much enthusiasm for nine o' clock at night. I could feel the sleepiness in my eyes.

"Yeah. I had fun. Hey… I'll see you in the morning. Tomorrow is four first day of school." I reminded her. I had forgotten about it too, until three seconds ago.

"Sure is…" She said uninterested. "Sleep well and all that…" She told me.

"Yeah, you too." I smiled and tugged gently to pull my hand free. I started to turn to my house.

"Rinoa." She called after me and I turned back.

Before I could react she came in quickly and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"H-hey! Ri-Rikku!" I stammered. I was flustered beyond belief, obviously not expecting that.

"Night Rinoa." She said casually and walked to her house.

I suddenly got a strong feeling that she wasn't joking today.

The entire side of my face where her lips met was hot. I never knew that it was possible to half blush until today. This half blush was quickly turning into a full blown, red faced, blush.

I watched her walking into her house. Never turning back to see my expression. I was thankful for that.

I started to think about what that meant. I knew there would be no stopping my mind. I just left it at "A joke." Nothing more to it. People do it in France all the time. Why should it mean anything more? And more importantly…why did I want it to?

Author's…words and junk. Sorry that took so long to type. I'm a little lazy but I'm glad it's over with. Next chapter!! Phew… I'll get started then…


	4. No Real Reason

Author's dribble: Please read and review. These chapters are just flying out of me! Enjoy.

For the third night in a row, Rikku was the only thing on my mind. I told myself that I was reading too far into things, but I couldn't stop myself. No one has ever been on my mind _this _constantly before. Almost everything makes me think about her. I find her in the colors red, yellow, and everything in between.

I tried to forget about her, at least when I slept. To no surprise, she found a way into my dreams again.

From what I remembered when I woke up, I was following her. She was walking ahead of me, talking, laughing, and smiling. I just blindly followed, completely content with not knowing where we were or where we were going. I just smiled along with her.

I woke up to a buzzing alarm clock. I winced the instant I heard that shrill sound. It's been waking me up for the past three years. I can't stand the sound anymore.

I went through my daily routine while trying to piece my dream together. I was really starting to feel the bruises Caraway gave me yesterday. They were all purple and blue. Good thing my school uniform covered all the necessary areas.

Personally, I found the uniform hideous, but it seemed to keep everyone happy. Mostly the teachers and the entire male population.

I rushed to the window to find Rikku frantically pacing back and forth, trying to tie the bow on her jacket.

Without another thought, I hopped over to her room.

"Hi." I said, casually leaning against the wall as if I was there the whole time.

She immediately skidded to a stop. Her face, for the first time, was flushed. Her fingers were fumbling with the bow.

I got off the wall and started toward her. "Here, let me do it for you."

She surrendered in defeat. For some reason, I tied it unusually slow. She didn't seem to mind or seem the least uncomfortable with the closeness.

Her breath hit my face as she spoke. "Okay, well, to be honest, this thing is pretty ugly." She made a disgusted face, it made me laugh.

Her smile came out. "But hey- It looks cute on you."

After that comment, I quickly finished the knot and took a step back.

"Okay now, we should probably head over there now…"

It was still pitch black outside I wouldn't be surprised if it stayed like this for the next three weeks with out any sun. Delling was almost always enveloped in clouds and illuminated only with neon signs and street lights.

We were clad in the exact same uniforms, but had different scarves on. It was very appropriate for the sudden drop of temperature.

"So, be totally honest." Rikku said to me as we walked to the school. "Am I going to hate it?"

"No, it's not that bad." I said looking in a different direction. I actually had school spirit. "You'll be fine as long as you don't-"

"As long as I don't mention that I'm an Al Bhed, right?" She snapped.

"I was going to say, as long as you don't make eye contact with any of the pervy gym teachers."

"Oh…" She stared down at her shoes.

"You'll encourage them." I explained. "But anyway, is that why you were so anxious this morning?"

"Well, yeah." She turned to me. "It wasn't' exactly my first choice to go to an all Galbadian school in the capital city of Galbadia in the heart of the Galbadian region!"

I paused for a long moment, waiting for her to catch her breath after that long rant. I laughed and kept my voice light. "You'll be fine." I put an arm around her shoulders. She didn't object at all. Whatever happened yesterday definitely made us closer. Maybe I was reading too far into it again.

"Sure, we'll see…" She muttered under her breath.

We arrived at the school after a long cold walk through the city. Galbadia High was actually a very nice school. There were good teachers, good school food, and a challenging curriculum.

Besides that, the teachers were way too strict. They walked the thin line between discipline and child abuse.

The food was too expensive. I mean, I know that we're all supposed to be rich, but this is just ridiculous. It's basically stealing.

The amount of work they give us make over worked and underpaid workers look lazy compared to the students of this school …But overall, it's a good school.

"Wowie!!!" Exclaimed Rikku. "It's so roomy in here even though there's like, a billion people in here." True, the school was big. It had too many exhausted teenagers in one place.

Almost immediately after she said that, we were ambushed by two of my friends.

"Rinoa-Rinoa!" Said a short haired girl with dark hair. She was way too excited for her own good; she almost tripped and knocked over the football team…again.

"Hey Rose." I said balancing out her eager voice. "Relax, will you? Just breathe." She flipped her hair and tried to do as I asked.

Another girl on the other side of her said, "What Rose is trying to say is, Edward is looking right at you!" She was tall, unlike Rose, and had blonde hair. "You like him this week, right? Am I right? Now's your chance!"

"Eh?" I felt awkward not knowing how to change the subject. "Umm, this is Rikku, my new neighbor."

Rose perked up immediately. "Hiya! I'm Rose!"

Crystal was a little more hesitant. She examined her for a second. Apparently, Rikku hadn't passed her test.

"Well forget about that!" said Crystal. "Edward is walking over here! Which is a good thing, too, because who knows how soon you'll get uninterested." She said, rolling her eyes.

Edward was walking over to us, or rather, to me. He had light blonde hair. Very handsome. Most people would say that he's my type, though, I really don't have one.

I glanced at Rikku to see how she was taking this all in. She was staring at the approaching boy. She was eyeing him up and down with a furrowed brow and a pouted lip.

"Hey Rinoa" said Edward, casually shifting his weight to one leg and carefully placing one hand in the pocket of his school slacks.

"Hi." I said back. I only looked at him for about a second, then my eyes diverted back to Rikku. She was still staring at him.

"Can I talk to you?" He said normally though obviously rehearsed.

"Yeah, what is it?" I said, standing my ground. He hadn't planned for me to be surrounded by people. His body language changed form smooth to short circuiting.

"Urm…uh…umm…" I got the feeling that he was fast forwarding part of his speech. "Do you…like me?-Cause' I like you…"

That couldn't possibly be rehearsed. He could have come up with something a little better. Maybe the burning eyes of three extra teenage girls were throwing him off.

"No sorry, only as a friend." I knew what I would say before he even came up. Crystal nudged me in the ribs.

"Oh, okay. I uh…sorry then." He walked away, almost hanging his head in defeat.

"What?!" Crystal squeaked in her high Valley girl tone. "I though you liked him?!"

"Well, I did." I turned to Rikku. She looked away from me. Maybe she wasn't listening at all.

"Well this is typical." Said Crystal, folding her arms. "Usually you give us a little heads up."

"Rinoa, you need to settle down and find yourself a man." Said Rose, slightly bouncing. "Let me tell you, she goes though crushes like someone with severe nasal issues goes through tissues." She was talking to Rikku now.

Was it just me, or did she seem a little quiet now?

"Lets see… Last week it was Edward, before that was Greg, and before that Robbie, and Thomas, and…"

"Okay Rose! Are you guys finished!?" They didn't have to answer because the bell rang at that moment. We all stalked off to our homerooms. Luckily, Rikku had the same one as me. I took the chance to clear the bad image which she just got of me.

Alphabetically, Rikku's name came right before mine. She was assigned to the seat right next to mine.

Even if she was less than a foot next to me, it was going to be difficult to talk to her under the shrew of a teacher's watchful gaze. So like I said, the teachers were strict.

I had mere seconds before the final bell rung. I had to talk fast before she'd end up thinking badly about me in silence for the next hour.

"Hey Rikku, you know what Crystal said- it's not that I dated any of them. Er…all of them… She meant that-"An ear shattering buzz cut me off. Class had begun and I was no better off than four seconds ago.

"Turn to page 368 and read up to page 524. Answer the six tests following page 524. All will be graded." Said the teacher, Mrs. Byte. She was the only exception in the "good teacher" thing.

She didn't actually teach us anything. The text book was our teacher. All she did was sit at her desk and grade our work down to the tiniest detail.

Needless to say, she had no life. When she had no work to grade, like today, she would either click on her computer, like she was actually doing something. Or she would just sit and stare at all of us.

She plopped down, found a comfortable spot, cracked the crust out of her old eyes, and stared at each and every individual. Of course, I was first.

I was getting worried about Rikku. She hasn't said anything since we got here. What was going on in her head? I can't even imagine what she thinks of me now.

Now I was getting nervous. Mrs. Byte's old bat eyes burned a hole through my forehead. I just moved my eyes from left to right across the page, like I was reading.

I couldn't focus on that at all. If I looked up at her at all, she would say that I wasn't working…Which I wasn't.

Suddenly, I felt relief that she stopped staring. I glanced up and I was right. I took out a sheet of paper so I could write a note to Rikku. I had to say it now.

I glanced up at Mrs. Byte again. She wasn't looking at me any more, but Rikku was her next victim. Rikku hasn't learned her rules yet.

I slid her a note. She shifted her eyes to the paper.

"_Don't make eye contact. She'll only yell at you. Just keep pretending to read and I'll tell you when she's done."_

Rikku shifted her eyes back to her book and did as I suggested.

Her time on the chopping block passed quickly. Mrs. Byte's next target was, thankfully, on the other side of the room.

I slid her another note.

_"Are you mad?"_ I just needed to know how she felt before I went on because, frankly, I had no clue. She looked alarmed when she read it. We locked eyes for a second and she raised her eyebrows and wrote.

_"Mad? About what? I'm not mad. Should I be?" _she carefully watched my face as I wrote. Her stare was a lot more welcome than Mrs. Byte's stare.

_"I thought you might be after what Crystal and Rose said. I can't really deny it, I do get crushes easily." _I didn't want to admit that last part, but I felt like I had to. She paused and then continued.

_"Why would I be mad about that?" _After reading that I felt like she really was mad. The look on her face confirmed that.

_"I don't know. I thought you started to think badly about me because of what she said." _

She took no time in responding.

_"It's true, isn't it?"_

I reluctantly answered. _"Yeah."_ I slid the paper to her, but after reading the one word I wrote, she crumpled the paper and got up to throw it away.

The teacher was too focused on the boy in the back of the room to notice her.

Rikku sat down and continued reading her text book. For the remainder of the class, we did the same thing.

When the bell rang, I was half expecting Rikku to be the first one to bolt out the door. She waited by my side for me to gather my things.

She pointed to her new schedule. "Do you know where this is?" At least she was talking to me.

"Yeah, it's on the way to my next class. I'll take you."

"Right, thanks." Once we were out of the classroom she continued our note conversation out loud.

"I'm not mad that you fall easily in and out of your crushes. It just means you haven't met the right person yet." She winked at me and smiled."Umm…Crystal was it? She' a total-"She was cut off by a boy who stood in our way.

"Hey Rinoa." It was Greg. Great. Just who I wanted t o see… "What are you doing Saturday night?"

I was going to lie to get out of this one. Greg was actually my messy brown haired friend.

"Oh, I'm going to have this family thing with…my family." I heard Rikku snicker next to me.

"Aww man…Kay, see you in Algebra."

We continued walking to class. I looked at Rikku; she opened her mouth to speak. She was cut off again.

"Rinoa!" Screamed Rose. She was walking in the opposite direction. She apparently say me and Greg. She shook her head in dissatisfaction.

I smiled a guilty smile at her. On she was out of range, Rikku finally got a chance to finish.

"You're sure popular." She was wearing her trademark smile.

"Well, I _am _a cheerleader. It kind of comes with it." I joked.

"A cheerleader?!" She was seriously surprised. At this point, I felt like I was already four feet deep in the grave that I've been digging for myself.

"Yeah! You really didn't think I was tough, did you? Well I am! It takes muscle to through people in the air." I pretended to flex my imaginary muscles.

She held her arms up in self defense. "Just remember, I'm your friend!" She smiled widely but mine disappeared. I felt like my stomach dropped to the floor.

"Uh- this is your classroom… See you at lunch." I said.

I rushed to my class. I took too long talking.

The rest of my next class I spent practically asleep; which means I spent practically the whole time thinking about Rikku again…

*****

At lunch I met up with Rikku and a lunch table full of extra baggage. Typically, Rose and Crystal would be on either sides of me and Greg would be sitting across from us and a load of people on either side of us. All of them were content just sitting at the same table.

But today on either sides of me sat Rose and Rikku. Crystal sat in a huff next to Rikku. I tried to ignore the bad energy she was emitting.

"I have to say, this school is so much better than I thought! A bunch of stuck-up Galbadians? Boy was I wrong!" Said Rikku, sipping on her bottle of milk.

"I know right?!" Said Rose. Lunch was like a battery being charged for Rose. I thought no one was as energetic as Rose before I met Rikku. It's a close call between the two.

"I told you this school is good. You'll love it here." I said turning to Rikku and noticing ketchup on her cheek. I took the nearest napkin and swiped it away. I chuckled at her slightly embarrassed face. She made a tiny smile to say "Thanks".

"Yeah, I love it here. I love everything except Mrs. Byte!" Said Rikku.

"Yeah I know!" Said Rose, quickly swallowing the contents in her mouth to continue. "The old hag needs to retire!"

Rikku turned to me. "How old _is_ she?"

Before I got a chance to speak, Crystal spoke across Rikku. "Rinoa! She's ancient, right?!" Crystal screamed so loud that it made Rikku jump. She really wanted to be noticed. Her loud voice shocked me too.

"Y-yeah…" was all I could say.

Rikku pouted out her lip and slowly turned to her, expecting her to apologize for her busted eardrums.

Crystal cocked her head to the side. "Yes?"

Rikku slowly turned back in my direction, very peeved.

"How many classes left?" asked Rikku.

"One more…" I looked at her schedule.

"Woo!!" said Rose. She shook the table a little as she bounced.

"Hey…" I said turning to Rikku. "We have the last class together. We're pretty lucky, Mr. Simpson let's you do whatever you want."

"Score! That's the only one today!" Said Rikku. Today must have been tough for her, but she'd finally get a break now.

The lunch bell fang and we all departed to our various classes, all except Rikku and, to my surprise, Crystal.

"Hey Rin." Crystal said as she draped her arm around my shoulders.

"H-hi Crystal…Isn't your class in the opposite direction." I pointed out awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah, but I have time. Hey Rinoa?"

"Yeah?" I could tell that she was intentionally trying to ignore Rikku. She walked silently by my side.

"Are you doing anything this Saturday?" Asked Crystal. This came out of nowhere. She rarely started anything herself. It was usually me or Rose. It might be important if she's asking like this.

"I don't know. Maybe…Why? What's up?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out." I was relieved. I actually thought something might be wrong.

"This Saturday isn't the best time…"

"Oh, okay. See you." She darted in the opposite direction quickly.

Rikku looked at me with wide eyes. "Wow. You really are popular. _Popular_ with everyone!" She poked at my ribs with her elbow.

"Oh, shut up. She just wanted to hang out." Why was I getting so defensive?

"She was asking you out." She said. It wasn't a question. She stated it like it was a fact. Like it was true!

"She wasn't" I stated. I felt the color flood to my face. It was frustration and a dash of something else.

"You considered it, right? You 'didn't know' if you were doing anything. Unlike Greg where you had a 'family thing'" She said, quoting me perfectly.

"I didn't consider anything." I was really frustrated. My face felt hot.

"She asked you out" She repeated. I couldn't take it anymore. "You considered it. You're blushing." She continued.

"Well, you're jealous!" I just blurted out. I immediately wished that I could take it back.

She looked straight ahead as we walked. "Maybe I am…"

I froze and she kept walking. "Rikku…" She turned and faced me, smiling widely.

"Come on. We'll be late." I followed after her. She didn't take it back. She didn't say "Kidding!" or "just joking!" or anything like I expected. She just smiled at me.

We got into the classroom and sat wherever we wanted. Of course, we sat next to each other. Mr. Simpson was a really good teacher. He'd explain it , then let us work. While we worked we could do whatever we wanted as long as we got the work done. He was one of the few laid back teachers in the school.

"What kind of music do you listen to?" She asked me while she rustled through her bag.

"Well, I like rock and-"

"Me too!" She said with a mixture of relief and excitement. "You gotta listen to this song…" She put one ear piece in and I took the other. She introduced me to a library of songs and bands as we worked.

I actually try in his class. He deserved it, he was a good teacher.

I introduced her to some of my friends and they all got along. This is defiantly starting to be my favorite class.

Walking back from school I could tell that Rikku was tired. She wasn't talking as fast as usual. We had a mountain of homework so I decided to covertly take it off her hands.

When we reached the gate of my house I took the opportunity. "Do you want to work on the homework together? We have all the same teachers." I hinted toward my house.

"In _there_?" She eyed the shiny car in my driveway. Caraway was home. "How bout' my place?"

"Works for me." I said smiling.

We went to her room and she plopped her bag down on the table. She popped in one of her favorite bands I the stereo, more rock education for me.

I examined her room more carefully this time. Most of her things were still unpacked.

One thing I didn't notice was this warm fur that was circling my feet. I screamed and jumped about four feet in the air and ran to Rikku. "Wh-what the?!" I wasn't in my senses enough to see what it was.

She just laughed and picked it up. "What are you afraid of?" She held it up to me.

"Oh…it's a kitten."

"Yup, I'm surprised you didn't notice before." So am I.

"It was here the whole time?" I asked.

"He" She corrected. "His name is Ghiki."

"Aww…He's so cute!" I fell to the kitten's charm…Somehow it felt similar to the feeling I got when I first met Rikku.

She handed him to me and I cradled him in my arms. It stared right back at me and moved its face up to sniff me. It like he was passing judgment on me, like Crystal did to Rikku.

After a few seconds of sniffing He pressed a paw against my cheek. Rikku knew what that meant so she put her hands under mine and raised the kitten up toward my face. It licked my face in approval and purred.

Rikku smiled warmly and chuckled a little. "Hee, he likes you." He definitely reminds me of Rikku.

I let him down and he went crazy. He ran from one side of the room to the other in an orange blur. "Umm, what's wrong with him?"

"He's just excited. I bet he'll fall asleep soon. He can be kind of annoying, but I love him."

She sat down at the table and I sat across from her. I started to take out the books we needed.

"Are you a cat person?" She asked, obviously not interested in any of the work. That was good because I planned on doing the work for her.

"Not especially. I think I'm more of a dog person." I heaved the textbooks onto the table.

"Ever had one?"

"No way! I'd never bring one into a house like that. I've always wanted one, but I would think of what's best for the dog first." I took a deep breath and started on the homework. Doing an extra copy for Rikku. She didn't even notice what I was doing.

"How very mature of you…" She said.

"Thank you?" I said, making it sound like a question.

"You're welcome…" She paused for a very long time. Obviously pondering something because her "Deep thought" face was on. Equipped with averted eyes, finger on the chin, and a furrowed brow. I could practically hear the mental "Hmmm…" going on in her head.

I mechanically finished problem after problem. I was writing as fast as my fingers could move.

I took advantage of her momentary silence. She can't distract me if she wasn't talking, I thought to myself. I was wrong.

The second I glanced up at her I found myself unable to look away, a lot like the first time we met. I was babbling like an idiot and she seemed cool as a cucumber.

I shook my head furiously. Why would I even want to stare at her? Why was I?

I began to work the problems out again when I was interrupted. I wasn't sad about it either.

Rikku looked up quickly. All the gears in her head clicked.

"Why put up with it? What's the point?" Her serious face came out again. Only when she's serious about Caraway is when this face bothers me. If she was seriously trying to study, her face would look similar to this, but it wouldn't bother me like this.

Her eyes so pained, brow wrinkled, and her voice full of hurt. I couldn't stand it.

"Put up with what?" I put my eyes back down to the paper. I knew playing innocent wouldn't get me anywhere, but I tried anyway.

"You know what I mean." Her voice was hard. She wasn't budging at all. "What's your reason for staying with him?"

I stayed silent. I kept myself from looking at her face. If I did, I knew that I would spill my guts.

She sighed in response to my silence. "Look, I'm not asking you to have the cops arrest him or anything. I just want to know why you won't." Her voice was thoughtful. I swallowed the lump in my throat and dared to look at her.

"It's my fault he's like this anyway…" I didn't want to go any further. I already knew that I would sound insane to her.

Rikku took the chair that she was sitting in across from me and moved it to my side. "Go on."

I swallowed again to get the second lump out. "My…mom is the reason he's…" She nodded. "And…It's my fault she's gone." I was ashamed. It was written all over me.

"Where is your mom?" I forgot that I haven't told her. I also forgot that I just met her a couple days ago, and yet I keep pouring more of my guts out.

"She died in a car accident. It was…my fault." My mouth went dry. I have this same feeling when Caraway becomes too much. When I spoke I could feel my bottom lip quiver. That was probably the reason she put her arm around my shoulders.

I felt I should go on. Rikku wanted to know because she was sincerely worried. My mind couldn't wrap itself around that concept.

"They fought all the time. I would always hear my name somewhere in the argument. That night, my mom wanted to get me away from their constant fighting. We headed to Timber because I wanted to see Zone and Watts-childhood friends. And then-"

It felt like I hit a brick wall. Like my mind and voice couldn't communicate any further. "She…I…"

Rikku pulled me into her arms. It was so comfortable and safe in her arms, but I didn't want to give in yet. I wasn't finished.

"It's my fault she died! If she didn't die Caraway wouldn't be like this!" I clutched onto her shirt. "If it wasn't Timber… Any where else…She died in the same car I was in and I'm still here! He…He has the right to hate me." My tears were already soaking like rain into her shirt. "I could've done something! I-I deserve-!"

"Rinoa, did you think all of this through? Clearly?" Rikku's voice was normal.

"Yes."

"Stop letting him hurt you. You've done nothing wrong. No one meant for that to happen."

I listened more closely to her voice. She spoke through clenched teeth.

"Weren't you listening? Just forget about the causes, the effect is still the same!" I said speaking into her shirt. "I don't care whose fault it was, the point is that I could have prevented it."

We were silent for a long time. I started to worry. Maybe I said something that really hurt her. Maybe I went too far.

She finally spoke after thinking everything through.

"Heh, sounds like you told this to yourself a lot. If I didn't know any better, I'd probably start to believe you."

I almost protested, but when she squeezed my shoulders tighter my train of thought ran off it's tracks.

"You know, my mom's dead too. I was eight. Do you think it was my fault that she died?" she said calmly, almost soothing.

I sprang to life immediately. "But that…That's different."

"Rinoa." She said firmly. "You know that's stupid."

I stayed silent.

"So, was it my fault that she died?"

I paused, looking around and searching for the answer. I already knew it; I was just looking for a different one. I couldn't find it.

"No." I said reluctantly. I hid my face further into her shirt. "I still care about my dad…I'm not going to send him to jail. Not after everything he's done for me."

"Well, I still care about _you_, and I'm not going to let him keep hurting you. Not after everything he's done _to you._" I was really touched. She's so sweet…

I pulled her closer. "Anything else?"

She sighed.

We spent the rest of the day together and eventually finished the homework. We weren't doing anything special, but I still had fun. The day wasn't long enough for me.

My head feels so scrambled. I threw myself onto my bed around nine.

As usual, my mind ran over everything that involved Rikku. I don't know why she's always on my mind. I can't think of a logical explanation with my head so clouded. I'm seriously considering a therapist.

I need to get my mind on something else. I lied still, listening to the heavy patter of rain. My window was still open for another reason that I could not come up with. I listened carefully and waited to fall asleep.

This distraction technique was working. Suddenly a flash of lightning along with a boom of thunder and a scream broke my concentration.

I sprang to my feet. All the past effort of distracting myself was now useless. I ran to the open window and yelled. "Rikku?!"

Another flash of lightning ripped through the clouds followed my thunder and another scream.

Without another thought, I leapt through the rain into Rikku's room. She was in the furthest corner from the window. She was trembling. Tears were streaming down her face.

I ran to her and dropped to my knees and grabbed her shoulders. "Rikku?! What's wrong?!" Panic was apparent in my voice. The crackling of the thunder came again as well as Rikku's scream.

I finally got the picture. I started to get up to close her window, but something held me in place.

Rikku grabbed my shirt and pulled me back down to her. She threw her arms around my waist and clenched the back of my shirt, like I would slip through her grasp if she didn't.

She buried her face in my chest and continued sobbing. I circled my arms around her neck and shoulders and rested my cheek on her head. Her tears soaked into my shirt.

Once the storm ended her sobs turned silent. It became calm and tranquil. I wanted to comfort her and, at the same time, ease my own soul.

Just being close to her feels different than being close to anyone else. Talking to her feels different than talking to anyone else. Holding her felt more different than doing anything else with anyone else.

I felt like I should break this spell she has on me, but, at the same time, I didn't want it to be broken.

My heart felt like it was about ready to burst. It felt like my chest was swelling with something that I could not identify. It was making my chest stiff. My breaths felt as if they filled out my lungs more than usual.

"I-I'm afraid of…" She choked out what she could.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that it was something like that." I held her tighter. We stayed like that. Neither of us wanted to move. At some point, we both fell asleep, in each other's arms.


End file.
